Qin Yao continued to stay in the same position; it was as if she had never noticed the two men; or that she had never woken up. As the time continued to trickle by, Qin Yao still lay there, only changing her sleeping position a few times.

Qin Yao felt that the last look that Zhong Xian gave her was suspicious, and she was unsure if he honestly left or if he was watching her from somewhere she couldn't detect.

An uneasy feeling filled her chest as she waited; playing a battle of attrition wouldn't cost her anything, but if she was right and Zhong Xian was indeed watching her, she couldn't afford to make a mistake.

By the time it took a few incense sticks to burn, the uneasiness in Qin Yao's chest quietly disappeared. She let out a sigh of relief and set up on her bed. The moon was supposed to be full tonight, but it was hidden behind the clouds making it hard to see.

Qin Yao sighed as she lept out of the window; she quietly broke into Shopkeeper Song's shop and took a few essentials.

A map, dried meat, a few sets of robes and a sac. She placed the cost of these products in her drawer and left. She did not need this change anyway.

As soon as Qin Yao left the store, she saw a thin and frail-looking man in the middle of the street. He was not there before, and she didn't hear anyone walk nearby. Could it be that she was a suspect?

Qin Yao hesitated for a while; if they suspected her, they would have just killed her, and no one cared about giving mortals a fair trial.

Qin Yao clenched her teeth as she bit the bait; she swiftly killed the man, carved out a piece of his flesh and walked out of the gloomy town.

There was nothing left for her to do here it was better to leave this town as soon as possible. She gave the little town one last look then turned her gaze to the sky. The bright moon peeked from the clouds, shining with a bright red hue instead of the usual silver.

The blood moon, Qin Yao smiled at the moon; though it was considered an ominous sign by most, to Qin Yao, it was a sight she would never forget.

Beautiful to the extreme.

Sadly her admiration of the moon was short-lived; she felt a familiar presence stand behind her, and it wasn't hard for her to guess who it was.

"Zhong Xian, it has been a while." Qin Yao said, giving a polite bow. "What brings you out here at this time of night?"

"There's no need for the honorifics, Young Miss," he replied dryly, "As for what brings me here, I should be asking you that question."

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"Surrender that evil doll, return with me and repent for your sins!"

"You are still the great sir's daughter, don't bring shame to his name."

Qin Yao's lips couldn't help but twitch, so what if she was someone's daughter; it did not affect nor change her current circumstance.

Looking at Zhong Xian's expression, he didn't seem to be joking; though she was unsure why he was so loyal to him, he should have realised it would be better for her and her father if she disappeared now.

Though it's difficult for a mortal to kill a Qi cultivator, it isn't impossible, especially with how low his guard was.

Qin Yao pursed her lips as she walked towards the cold and indifferent Zhong Xian, as she carefully formulated what to say.

"Uncle Zhong, what sin have I committed? Other than ending a few worthless lives, I do not think I have done anything noteworthy."

Zhong Xian's face twisted, it seemed as if he wanted to spit out and tell her that ending those lives was the sin she had committed, but his decorum didn't allow him to interrupt his superiors while they spoke.

Qin Yao pretended to be shocked by his twisted expression and asked in incredulity, "Could it be that was the sin you were referring to?"

"Is it so bad for me to follow in my father's footsteps?"

Qin Yao stopped a short distance from Zhong Xian, and if she looked up at this moment, her breath would reach his face. Zhong Xian was uncomfortable by this, but his pride didn't allow him to take a single step backwards.

He clenched his teeth as he said, "Your father killed for a greater purpose, not for some demonic purposes!"

"All paths that reach the top are great paths, those were his words."

Qin Yao smiled as she finally took her hand out of her pocket and blew the powder onto his face, knocking him down instantly.

Qin Yao had used mere sprinkles on the Song couple but completed a fistful onto this moron. Luckily for her, it worked out, and even if it didn't, he would just send her home; this was why she dared take this gamble.

As for whether or not Liu Jiayu was with him or not, Qin Yao knew that this lunatic would not allow an outsider to witness the Qin family's shame.

Qin Yao took her dagger from her waist and tried to decapitate him; she found that his flesh was tougher than that of mortals, but it was still cut through, at most taking some extra time.

Qin Yao then looted him of his belongings; she had the grand harvest of two hundred gold coins, a better dagger, a few fasting pills, his cultivation method and some spirit stones.

Qin Yao threw away her already dulled dagger, packed her new harvest into her bag and walked into the forest.

Though this encounter with a cultivator ended with her overwhelming victory, Qin Yao couldn't help but feel pressured, Zhong Xian must have noticed her a while ago, but she did not notice him stalking her. She had to start cultivating as soon as possible.

Qin Yao placed a few poisonous herbs around camp to scare away the little critters and lit up her campfire. After the twists and turns of her evening, Qin Yao was ready to call it a night, but she held through until she finally stitched up the last remaining piece.

She had even used Zhong Xian's flesh instead of that random man's as she believed it was of better quality.

As soon as her final stitch landed and she cut off her thread, the sky cleared; the blood colour of the moon soon faded, turning into a smog that descended onto the entire forest and perhaps beyond before converging on the doll on her lap.

The uneven skin bunny turned into a uniform of the colour of black; its eyes turned ruby red and its teeth an eerie pure white. Before Qin Yao could be awed by her creation, the red smog rushed into her body, forcing her to faint.

Unbeknownst to Qin Yao and her now lifelike doll, they had caused a greater disturbance than this strange natural phenomenon.